Good morning! I hope the world is being good to you and you’re being good to it.

Grab your coffee or beverage of choice and share a thought with me!

Several weeks ago, the family did the annual summer vacation. Even though it’s summer break for the kids, the vacation provides everyone a break from the day in/day out routine, though I don’t know if parents truly get a vacation on a vacation. Regardless, it gets me out of having to mow for a week or more and we get to see the kids have fun while experiencing different things. We kept things closer to home this year to protect our sanity in traveling with a toddler, which proved to be the right call. One thing we struggled with, however, was where to eat, and it always came down to a decision between local flavor or familiar chain.

There’s a certain amount of hassle involved with eating on vacation, at least when needing to eat out. We are still opting for the hotel route, so making our own meals is not an option unless it’s something like cold meat sandwiches that we can pull from a mini fridge. Eating out then requires overcoming unfamiliarity with the area, judging ease of access and family-friendliness, and then hoping the menu can accommodate a picky eater or two. There’s hurdles that become especially irksome when parenting fatigue is in full bloom after a robust day of activities, and that’s also when the battle between trying the local fare or going to a place where you know the fuss will be minimal.

We took both routes on our trip. The best, most accessible local spots ended up being small diners. They had diverse menus, we could sit down right away, and the staff was amazing. Probably most importantly, they were good. When we tried “fancier” locales, however, we encountered all sorts of problems. They had unique schedules where they were closed on certain weekdays or, less unique but still frustrating when you’re trying to beat the rush with a family, only open for a specific meal period like lunch or dinner. We encountered lengthy waits, parking challenges, and generally less inviting atmospheres. I may have cursed once or twice in these situations when the hangriness took hold and forced out my Mr. Hyde.

But you know who came to the rescue? Domino’s Pizza. McDonald’s. Subway. When all hope seemed lost, when the children wailed with discontent, those stalwarts were there providing food we could get with as little thought and effort as possible. And as we lay in the hotel room air conditioning, Men In Black II playing on TV for the thousandth time this year, we were full and content.

I would go back to those local diners in a heartbeat; they were excellent experiences. While I would like to try one of those “playing hard-to-get” establishments, that may be a challenge for just my wife and me to tackle when we can put forth a bit more patience and sidle up to the bar. There is something to having a “when in Rome” attitude when traveling and sampling the local flavors; I wish our trip had at least one of those experiences every day. Conversely, I don’t want to work too hard for my food when I don’t need to, which is when those ubiquitous chains whose signage cover the countryside are welcome sights.